"Tujhe yaad kar liya hai, Aayat ki tarah
Qaayam tu Ho gayi hai, Riwaayat ki tarah"

Meaning:
Aayat: Verses of the Quran

This song is one of my absolute favourites (Especially the lyrics and singer uff) and I was listening to it whilst writing this chapter.

For those interested, it's called Aayat (From Bajirao Mastani) (I have really good taste in music btw 😉)

BACK TO THE CHAPTER

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[It was around 2:30 AM when Aditya abruptly woke up and immediately, he bathed into Zoya's room, to find it empty.

Zoya was missing.

He immediately began dialling her phone, but the phone simply kept ringing. No one picked up.

Aditya couldn't properly understand what he was feeling, but he was terrified, scared shitless. Beads of sweat collected near his forehead and trickled down endlessly.

Stuffing his phone in his pocket, he ran outdoors. He had word a thin shirt, which did nothing to protect him from the chilly weather, but at that moment, all he could think about was Zoya.

He knew how Zoya was. She was silent, submissive, sometimes extremely foolish and impulsive, and he also knew that she was in danger.]

Aditya: (Screaming) ZOYA! ZOYA!

[No voice returned.

He ran through the dimly lit streets like an aimless wanderer, until his eye fell on the piece of cloth that was on the floor. It was a familiar shade of turquoise, with silver strands fragmenting towards the ends.

He fell on his knees and picked it up, before clutching it close to his chest.]

Aditya: ZOYA! ZOYA!

[He sat on the floor, defeated, not knowing what to do, and where to go.

Helpless, he pulled his phone out and dialed a number.]

*On the phone*

Aditya: J-Jameel...A-Adam...Z-Zoya...Zoya...

[Within 20 minutes, Jameel and Adam rushed to Aditya, and were surprised to find him on the floor in such a state.]

Adam: Aditya! Kya Hua? Bhabhi ko Kya Hua?

Aditya: M-Mujhe lagta hai kissi ne Zoya ko kidnap k-kiya hai...Yeh...Yeh uske dupatte ka hissa hai, d-dekh...

Jameel: Police ke paas chalte hai, chal!

Aditya: Police Kya karegi? Mujhe pata bhi nahi ki woh kaha gayi hai!

Adam: Adi, Jameel sahi keh raha hai, Chal, Police ke saath chalte hai, Chal

[An hour later, The three men were sat in the police station.]

Jameel: Main Air Force officer Jameel Ali, aur yeh Officer Adam D'Souza aur yeh Officer Aditya Hooda.

Inspector: Problem kya Hua hai saahab?

Adam: Aditya ki biwi shaayad kidnap Ho Gayi hai

Inspector: Hmm...Firauti ka phone aaya hai?

Jameel: Nahi, Nahi, hum sure nahi hai ki woh kidnap hui hai ya nahi

Inspector: Dekhiye, Missing complaint file karne ke liye 24 ghante wait karna padega, aap Ghar jaayie, subah tak biwi Ghar aa jaayegi

Aditya: (Angry) ARRE AISE KAISE AAYEGI?! Yeh...YEH PHATTE KAPDE DIKHAAI NAHI DE RAHA HAI?

Jameel: Adi, relax, relax!

Aditya: (Angry) Bewakoof Log hai Sab ke Sab! Chhod Jameel, Main khud Zoya ko dhund lunga!

Adam: Bilqul Nahi, hum saath mein dhoondenge Bhabhi ko, Chal Adi, Chal Jameel

Aditya: Nahi, Adam, Jameel, tum Log Ghar jaao, Main sambhaal lunga

Jameel: Hum kahi nahi jaa rahe, Adi.

Aditya: Mujhe darr hai ki agar unn logo ne Nani Aur Tara ko Kuch kiya toh?

Jameel: Unn Log? Matlab tu jaanta hai ki woh Log kaun hai?

Aditya: Mujhe shak hai...Adam tum Mere Ghar pe raho, Main Aur Jameel Baaki ka dekh Loonga

Adam: Par Adi...

Aditya: Kuch bhi Ho toh Mujhe phone karna, theek hai?

Adam: Haan, Theek hai

[Helpless, Aditya and Jameel scanned the nook and corner of every street, but couldn't find anything.

Then, he had an intuition, a weird gut feeling.

He drove his car to the place where he met Zoya, for the first time. As he drove, he found tiny droplets of blood, forming a trail, and his skin crawled in fear.]

Aditya: (Shouting) ZOYA! ZOYA!

Jameel: Adi, woh dekh!

[He noticed a house in the distance, which was lit up and silently, both of them walked towards the house.

Bad thoughts crawled in Aditya's mind. What if she was raped? Or worse...Killed?

They reached the house and peeked through the tiny window, too find a sight that was too hard to see]

Aditya: (Screaming) ZOYA!——

[Jameel quickly covered Aditya's mouth, to protect him, the men, including Zoya, who was conscious and crying, and immediately looked around, upon hearing Aditya's voice.

Zoya's clothes were torn and she was sat on the floor, her hands tied behind her back and mouth covered, with blood oozing from her forehead.]

Jameel: Adi, tu andar jaa Zoya ke paas, Main inn logo ko sambhaal lunga...Maine Police ko bula liya hai, tu ja!

[Aditya quickly entered the room, and found Zoya, still conscious and quickly untied her, before helping her get up.]

Zoya: (Crying) A-Aditya! Aditya!

Aditya: (Worriedly cupping her face) T-Tumhaare kapde...Unn Log o ne Kuch kiya? Zoya, Bolo!

Zoya: (Crying) N-Nahi...Nahi...

Aditya: (Angry) Tumhe Kya daure padh jaate hai, jhagadne ka!

Zoya: (Crying) Jhagda aapne shuru kiya tha, Humne nahi!

Aditya: Hum...Yeh Hum Kya hota hai? Tum Aur kaun?

Zoya: (Crying) U-Urdu mein aise hi baat karte h-hain...

Aditya: Tumhaari Urdu ki toh...

Zoya: (Crying) S-Sorry...Sorry...

[Zoya didn't hug, and neither did Aditya put his arms around her. All he did was cup her face, in an attempt to wipe her tears away.

They continued their bicker until they heard the police sirens ring.]

Zoya: P-Police...

Aditya: Jameel ne Police bulaaya tha, Chalo, Ghar Chalo ab

Zoya: (Wiping her tears) H-Haan...Haan...Ouch! Ah!

[Zoya's already bruised feet fell weak and she fell on the floor until Aditya got her shoulders in his grip, before she could fall.

He bent down and picked her up in his arms, while she wrapped her hands around his neck, and carefully, he took the car before they both drove home.]

*At home*

[Aditya carefully carried Zoya indoors, to her room and placed her on the bed, before sitting besides her and inspecting her wounds.

He stood up and opened her cupboard before taking the clothes that looked the most comfortable and placing them on the bed.]

Aditya: Kapde badal do, phir tumhaare zakhm dekh lunga

[Aditya left the room and Zoya slowly changed into a pair of her home clothes and 15 minutes later, Aditya returned, with a first aid kid and warm water in his hands.

Silently, he just sat and applied the ointment on her wounds, while she tried reading his face for any kind of emotion.]

Zoya: (Crying) A-A...Aditya...I-I'm Sorry...

Aditya: Chup. Bilqul Chup...Iss waqt bahut gusse mein hoon, mujhse Koi baat mat karna

Zoya: (Crying) Hum bahut bade bewakoof hai...Hume pata n-nahi tha——

Aditya: Yehi toh problem hai! Tum Kuch jaanti nahi Ho, phir bhi Itna saara raita phailaati Ho! Upar se...Upar se phone bhi lekar nahi jaati Ho!

Zoya: (Crying) S-Sorry...S-Sorry...

Aditya: Yeh paani pi lo, Aur phir sone ki koshish karo, Subah ke 4 bajj gaye hai

Zoya: (Wiping her tears) H-Haan...Haan...

[As Aditya left, Zoya was shell shocked by what had happened to her.

She rolled up the sleeves of her clothes to reveal the nail marks that were dented on her skin.

She could have been killed, yet somehow, Aditya always knew when to swoop in and take care of her troubles.

She cursed herself for treating Aditya in such a harsh manner, because even a part of her knew that he didn't deserve it. She didn't have to flare up in such a manner.
All Aditya did was buy her a pair of earrings, that probably meant nothing, yet why was Zoya so afraid, acting so cowardly?

She burst into tears and slowly, cried herself to sleep, wrapping her arms around her tired body.

But Aditya couldn't sleep. All he could imagine where the countless mishaps that could have happened if he didn't go back to the spot where he met Zoya for the first time. What if he didn't see the droplets of blood?

All they could to was thank their stars that they were well and safe, thankfully.]

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Thank you for reading 💕